Like last year lists this year are all over the place, a lot of main stream rap again, really solid techno and again VERY happy to see a lot less of the soft boy beat stuff that clogged up the festivals, which makes me overwhelmingly happy. Here’s a few musicians that most of you know but made my year very enjoyable because of a DJ set, live set, a diverse DJ Kicks or a keeping an alias alive and well, enjoy!

The fire last week in Oakland has been a huge shock to the artist community here in the Bay Area with ripples far beyond. Sadly, as is often the case, it took a tragedy of this magnitude to start a dialogue about the issues and conditions that precipitated it.

I first discovered electronic music in the ‘90s through the Bay Area warehouse party scene. Later I moved back to Sacramento where I started making music myself and playing my first shows at underground parties. I owe a lot to the community and history of this area and it’s disheartening to know that fewer and fewer artists have the opportunity to benefit from this richly diverse community.

This Wednesday I’ll be participating in the Oakland United event at the Fox Theater. 100% of the proceeds will go directly to Gray Area Foundation For The Arts Oakland Fire Relief Fund. Christopher Willits, whose Overlap Studio is based in Oakland, and I will be collaborating on a short DJ set and a lot of other local artists will be playing as well.

I’ve created this poster to promote the event and as a tribute to the victims of the fire. We will be selling prints at the show and online afterwards, proceeds of which will go to the Fire Relief Fund.

I hope you can support in whatever way you are able; more information about the event and the relief fund can be found at Oakland United.

“It feels sad to lose people, even if you might not have known them all personally, it’s still a very heavy feeling. DIY spaces have been so absolutely central to my life creatively, communally and spiritually that it hurts to the core to see friends lose their friends. It’s more than i can put into words.”

I usually write-off all the pitched vocal tracks that clog up the electronic scene BUT this is a unique take, especially the intro.

‘THROAT’ is the new album by composer/producer Aaron David Ross (ADR). Arriving as the New York artist’s second release on PAN, ‘THROAT’ is made entirely from vocal sounds. It could only be crafted in the ultra-present; an age where the poetry of songwriting is flattened into catchy hooks. As words are sliced into sounds, ideas are reduced to sibilant syllables that still contain a range of emotional power, but deliver it in subversively different ways.

‘THROAT’ exploits these ways, borrowing vocal fragments from everywhere to collage a choral congregation of singing servers; pinging one another to create open-source equal-opportunity electronic pop music. Reichian polyrhythms EDM drop into Bieber-esque beatboxing. Hypothetical K-pop stars conduct holographic choirs in altruistic ritual. Virtual summer festival DJs transcode into pure phonemes; anthropomorphizing formant-shifted vacuums of communication. When you drop the cargo of making sense, you can go so much faster.

As a classically trained musician inspired equally by pop and contemporary art & technology practices, ADR’s work has distinguished itself through its formal deliriousness and playful tenor. Besides ongoing collaborations with an international community of vocalists, producers, artists and fashion designers, Ross releases solo recordings, composes music for film, TV and advertising, and maintains a practice of live performance and sound installation.